Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the UK's cash network is not exploited by transnational organised crime groups.

The UK is internationally recognised as having some of the strongest controls worldwide for tackling money laundering (including through the use of cash) and bringing to justice those who seek to use or hide the proceeds of crime. These include Global Human Rights sanctions, Unexplained Wealth Orders, as well as our Economic Crime and Asset Recovery Action Plans.

The Home Office continues to work with our partners across Government and Law Enforcement to bring together the policy and operational response to Cash Based Money Laundering under one umbrella, with the overall objective to make the UK a harder place for criminals to launder cash in and through the UK and deter the use of criminal cash.

Economic crime knows no borders, and the actions that we take domestically need to be complemented at an international level. As noted in the Integrated Review and the new Atlantic Charter, we are working closely with the US to fight corruption and illicit finance. The UK-UAE Partnership to Tackle Illicit Financial Flows, recently announced by the Home Secretary, is another concrete example of joint international efforts to tackle the threat from dirty money and the serious and organised crime that it enables.

We have capitalised on the UK's G7 Presidency to strengthen the global response to corruption and illicit finance to reduce the space to hide dirty money.